Hello everybody,
 
I've been reading the FML since about a year now and really enjoy the
information sharing that this mailing list provides.
 
First of all, let me introduce myself.  My name is Aline and I'm the
lucky mom of 2 adorable fuzzies.  I live in Belgium so please excuse
spelling mistakes since my mother language is French.
 
I'm a really worried mom today.  My youngest baby, Stitch is only 1 year
old and was a real happy and eccentric ferret until 4 weeks ago.
 
It all started with Stitch losing a bit of appetite and having lost
weight a bit more that his big brother with the summer coming at our
door.  According to the vet, there was nothing to worry about.  And then,
4 weeks ago, Stitch acted a bit more tired than usual.  We have just
moved home so we figured, it was because there was quiet some noise
around the house with the move and that he had to get used to his new
home.
 
And the, he started to have a weakness in his hind legs.  We went
straight to his vet and she told me that Stitch had apparently caught
a sort of flu.  Within a day or two, I had to force feed my baby with
convalescence kitten food to make sure that he got some food in.  He
never vomited and was pretty much keeping his weight.  And the the spiral
went on.  he became weaker and weaker from the hind legs and was only
making a few steps at a time.  Stitch started grinding his teeth.  So we
thought that he had a stomach ulcer.  The vet examined him again and told
me that it was some sort of viral infection together with a stomach
ulcer.  She prescribed antibiotics (Synolux - amoxicillin) together with
a stomach plaster (ulcogant - sucrafate) and metronidazole (known to work
on the cause of the ulcer).  For a few days, Stitch was eating his kitten
food in a spoon like a little ogre.  He still could not walk.  He barely
managed to get to his poopy box and most of the time feel asleep there.
 
It seemed to go worse and worse.  X rays were performed to see if his
had not caught a pneumonia (he is sometimes making weird noises when he
breaths) but the longs are fine.  Blood was taken but there again there
was nothing to see.
 
Stitch seems to be running a fever as well. it must come from somewhere.
By Sunday, he could not even manage to get to his poopy box on his own.
Poor baby.
 
Yesterday was so bad that I went to his vet and once again asked her what
to do.  She had consulted with a Dutch colleague who is getting trained
on a regular basis in the US for ferret medicine.  He was also sure that
our Stitch had a severe case of stomach ulcer so she decided to operate
him thinking that he might have a perforation of the stomach.
 
She operated him, checked all the organs and there was nothing to see.
No organ problem, no ulcer, no nothing.  She and her Dutch colleague are
clueless.  I keep searching books and the net to see if maybe we could
find what is making my baby so sick but it seems there is nothing.  Have
we missed out something?  Even tough all his organs are fine, he is
grinding his teeth, breaths really rapidly and seems to be having a
uneven respiration.  He seems to have problem catching air.  We thought
he was in a lot of pain and was having these symptoms because of that.
but it seems not.  There must be something else.  My Stitch is a real
good little soldier, fighting to live.  We are making all we can to try
to save him but today, I am a lost and very sad mom.  All the vets I
have contacted are clueless.
 
Another thing is that if this thing is a severe virus, how come my
second ferret (Winnie) is not suffering from the same thing.  They sleep
together in the same room.
 
Could this be a new kind of virus or are these symptoms well-known in the
US and not yet in Europe?  What kind of medicine could we use to get rid
of this insidious disease since antibiotics seem to have very little or
no effect on his condition.
 
I know that vets are reading this mailing list and that fuzzy owners or
shelter owners are as well.  The chances are that someone out there had a
baby having the exact same symptoms as my Stitch and found a way to cure
him.
 
Please Big, post my story since this is my last hope to try to find
someone with the answer and with the right cure for my baby.
 
Thanks
 
Aline, Dario and the fur gang Winnie, Stitch and Cookie@the
rainbowbridge.
[Posted in FML issue 4524]